Page 54 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“Take your things and get out. Tonight.”

“I have nowhere to go!” Dan was panicked. “I don’t have any money! I paid you for this month!”

“I’ll give you the money back,” Will replied, unable to look his friend in the eye. He felt awful. “Find a hotel, and then… I don’t know. That’s your problem. Just get out,” he added, much more harshly than he’d intended.

Danny stared at him in disbelief. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to beg Will to let him stay, but in the end, he ran to his room. He came out just fifteen minutes later, with an overstuffed bag and a tear-stained face. Will felt his heart clench. He kept repeating to himself that he had no choice.

“Your money,” he said quietly, holding out a few bills he had prepared a moment ago. It was more than he’d gotten from him.

Dan pushed his hand away.

“Fuck you!” he snarled.

He didn’t take the cash and ran out of the house.

Will sat down on the stairs and buried his face in his hands.

What had seemed like the only way out just a few minutes ago now felt like the worst decision he had ever made in his life.

BLAKE

November 15 | Friday | Black Forest

The scent of blood assaulted his nostrils. Crimson on white encircled the body of the dark-haired girl. She definitely hadn’t been killed here. There would have been more blood, though even this amount was enough to distract him. The sight was grim, repulsive in its cruelty, yet he couldn’t look away. How strange it was to think that centuries ago, a similar sight wouldn’t have stirred much emotion among his ancestors. Another dead human. Another victim.

Abigail let go of the girl’s wrist. Her eyes, which had filmed over with white a moment before, returned to normal.

“Well?” Blake asked, watching her intently.

“Terror and pain,” Abigail whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. “That’s all I could feel.”

“That wasn’t very helpful,” Liam assessed.

Blake shot him an irritated look.

“More helpful than your comment.”

“I don’t know about that. I could have told you that the victim of some maniac felt terror and pain before she died.”

“If we’d found her sooner, I would’ve been able to read more,” Abigail said.

Blake shifted, uneasy. Something was constantly distracting him, and it wasn’t just the blood.

“Did he really leave?” he asked skeptically, his eyes narrowing.

“He? And which nameless individual might you be referring to?” Liam quipped.

Blake gave him a withering look.

“Will,” he muttered curtly. “Is he gone or not?”

“He’s gone. I can’t smell him.”

“You never could. Not the way I do,” Blake stated with a hint of annoyance, though he knew Liam wasn’t to blame. Both werewolves and vampires had extraordinarily sensitive senses, but they were attuned to different things. He was surprised, however, that Liam hadn’t noticed that Morgan didn’t smell… human. “Besides, it’s not just the scent, which I can’t pick up now, but this… energy,” he explained cautiously, not quite sure what to call it. He had never experienced anything like it before. “I feel it when he’s near. And I still do,” he muttered, frowning and looking around. “Like something is still here.”

“Whoa,” Liam snorted. “If we’re getting into energies, shit’s getting weird. Let’s clean this up and get out of here.”

Blake scowled. He didn’t like being dismissed.